With the end of the year fast approaching, the e-commerce specialists, Amazon, will be expecting one of their largest festive season turnovers to date. With most countries enforcing lockdown regulations, consumers have turned to the world of online shopping to make purchases.
A New Fulfillment Center and Plenty of Jobs
Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will be constructing another fulfillment center in Nebraska. The site is expected to be in the range of 700 000 square feet and should provide a much needed 1 000 full time jobs in a somewhat crucial period of time. The fulfillment center is set to join the worldwide network of facilities in 2021.
With the festive season fast approaching, Amazon has decided to hire 100 000 seasonal staff in hopes of accommodating the massive demand that is expected. While this may be half of their seasonal hiring set in 2019, the company has already permanently employed a large amount of staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. This came earlier in the year as a record surge in orders was observed during March and April. Analysts expect the majority of festive season purchases to be done online and this is expected to result in two years worth of e-commerce growth for the company. Forecasts estimate a possible 33% increase of sales during the period resulting in a record $189 billion.
Revenue Projections
Amazon are set to announce their third quarter results on Thursday. Their second quarter blew all estimates out of the water with the e-commerce giant reporting five times the value of most Wall Street forecasts. Revenue is projected to be within a range of $87 billion to $93 billion and profits at $7.25 per share. While this week has been relatively static for the share price, itss year to date increase is currently sitting at 67.94%, a figure which dwarfs most listed companies’ performance for this year.
The decision to move Prime Day later in the year may prove to be a stroke of genius. “COVID-19 and the stay-at-home response for many consumers should result in another quarter of revenue upside in Q3, notwithstanding the timing shift for Prime Day (excluding India) to Q4 from Q3,” wrote Wedbush analysts led by Michael Pachter. Known as one of the largest retail holidays in the year and usually celebrated in July, Prime Day will have brought about a tremendous end to the company’s third quarter and serve as preparation for the upcoming surge of sales over the festive season.
Not only does Amazon continue to astound in the e-commerce sector, its advertising and cloud services have also been performing amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. With growth in almost every department, the company has set its sights on the kings of revenue, Walmart. It is expected that Amazon will be looking to overtake Walmart in gross merchandise volume as soon as next year, perhaps an indicator of a change in the worldwide revenue leadership position.
